Conjectural History and Scottish Philosophers

"Conjectural history" is used here to "denote any rational or naturalistic account of the origins and development of institutions, beliefs or practices not based on documents or copies of documents or other artifacts contemporary (or thought to be contemporary) with the subjects studied." Many recent historians have focused on the apparent emergence within Scotland of a large number of sophisticated conjectural histories around ¡750, and analysed them within the framework of a Marxist-oriented social science. This paper argues that such a perspective is "inappropriate and misguided." If one looks at these works as an outcome of what went before, rather than a forerunner of what came after, they begin to lose their modernistic flavour.Conjectural histories of the Scottish Enlightenment were based essentially on four sources: the Bible and its commentaries, the classics, modern works of philosophy and travel accounts. Each had an influence on the works produced. The parallels between the Biblical and the secular conjectural histories are, for example, instructive and it is clear that no Scottish historian could consistently hold a doctrine of economic deter- minism or historical materialism and still reconcile this position with his Calvinist beliefs. Works such as Lucretius' On the Nature of Things had influenced the con- jectural histories of the Renaissance and continued to be used by the Scots just as they were by the English deists, whose speculations about historical development were also helpful to Scottish writers. Travel accounts provided information concerning mankind at various stages of civilization, but no explanation of the developmental process.While the study of history was a popular pursuit during the Scottish Enlightenment this inte rest followed trends on the continent and elsewhere. Furthermore, an examination of the great works of this period suggests that they were firmly based on the writings of scholars of a generation before. Certainly the leading writers of the "golden age" from roughly 1730 to 1790 gave a more sophisticated, detailed and elaborate treatment cf these ideas, but the sources, problems and concepts which they elucidated were not new. In their analyses, they did not employ historical materialism or economic determinism, though they were undoubtedly more political-economic, dynamic and secular in their attitude. They desired change for Scotland out of a patriotic regard for the comparative backwardness of their country, but the causes and cures for that condition were not fundamentally economic in nature. If these writings are examinedas a unit, and seen in context, the conjectural historians of the Scottish Enlightenment appear to be an understandable outcome of their intellectual milieu. The author supports this conclusion by a close examination of the work of Hume and Smith. This further explicates his theme that a nascent economic determinism was not the impetus for this writing that recent historians have read into these works.L'expression "histoire conjecturale" est utilisée ici pour "définir toute description rationnelle ou naturaliste des origines et de l'évolution des institutions, croyances ou pratiques, description qui n' est pas fondée sur des documents ou des copies de docu- ments, ou sur d'autres artefacts contemporains (ou jugés contemporains) des sujets étudiés". Récemment, plusieurs historiens ont porté leur attention sur l'émergence apparente d'un grand nombre d'histoires conjecturales en Ecosse, vers 1750. L'exposé qui suit soutient qu'une telle perspective est "impropre et peu judicieuse". Si l'on considère ces travaux comme le résultat de ce qui s" est produit auparavant, plutôt que comme précurseurs de ce qui a suivi, ils commencent à perdre leur saveur moderniste.Les histoires conjecturales du siècle des lumières en Ecosse étaient fondées essentielle- ment sur quatre sources: la Bible et ses annotations, les classiques, les ouvrages modernes de philosophie et les récits de voyages. Chacune a eu une influence sur les travaux réalisés. Par exemple, les parallèles établis entre les histoires conjecturales bibliques et séculaires étaient instructives, et aucun historien écossais ne pouvait soutenir en toute logique une doctrine de déterminisme économique ou de matérialisme historique, tout en conciliant cette position avec ses propres convictions calvinistes. Des travaux tels On The Nature of Things de Lucretius, ont influencé les histoires con- jecturales de la Renaissance et continuent d'être utilisés par les Ecossais tout comme par les déistes Anglais dont les spéculations relatives au développement historique étaient aussi utiles aux écrvains Ecossais. Les récits de voyages fournissaient des renseignement sur l'humanité à divers degrés de civilisation, mais aucune explication du processus de i évolution.Alors que l'étude de l'histoire était une activité répendue en Ecosse pendant le siècle des lumières, les tendances vers cet intérêt se retrouvait aussi sur le continent et ailleurs. De plus, un examen des grandes oeuvres de l'époque permet de croire qu'elles étaient fermement fondées sur des travaux d'érudition réalisés une génération plus tôt. Assuré- ment, les principaux auteurs de cet "âge d'or" entre 1730 et 1790 approximativement, traitaient ces idées avec plus de rafinement et de détail, mais les sources, les problèmes et les concepts qu'ils élucidaient n'avaient rien de nouveau. Dans leurs analyses, ils n' utilisaient pas le matérialisme historique ne le déterminisme économique, quoique leur attitude était indubitablement plus politico-économique, dynamique et séculaire. Leur désir de changement pour l'Ecosse découlait d'un sentiment patriotique, suscité par le relatif retard de leur pays; mais les causes et les solutions à cet état de fait n'étaient pas de nature fondamentalement économiques. Si ces écrits sont étudiés comme un tout et placés dans leur contexte, les historiens conjecturaux écossais du siècle des lumières apparaissent comme une émanation compréhensible de leur milieu intellectuel. L'auteur appui cette conclusion par un examen attentif du travail de Hume et Smith. Cela explique plus à fond son thème qui est que, contrairement aux impressions des historiens contemporains, un déterminisme économique naissant n'est pas la force dynamique sous-tendant ces écrits

Galectin-3 negatively regulates the frequency and function of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells and influences the course of Leishmania major infection

Galectin-3, an endogenous glycan-binding protein, plays essential roles during microbial infection by modulating innate and adaptive immunity. However, the role of galectin-3 within the CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T regulatory (TREG) cell compartment has not yet been explored. Here, we found, in a model of Leishmania major infection, that galectin-3 deficiency increases the frequency of peripheral TREG cells both in draining lymph nodes (LNs) and sites of infection. These observations correlated with an increased severity of the disease, as shown by increased footpad swelling and parasite burden. Galectin-3-deficient (Lgals3−/−) TREG cells displayed higher CD103 expression, showed greater suppressive capacity, and synthesized higher amounts of IL-10 compared with their wild-type (WT) counterpart. Furthermore, both TREG cells and T effector (TEFF) cells from Lgals3−/− mice showed higher expression of Notch1 and the Notch target gene Hes-1. Interestingly, Notch signaling components were also altered in both TREG and TEFF cells from uninfected Lgals3−/− mice. Thus, endogenous galectin-3 regulates the frequency and function of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ TREG cells and alters the course of L. major infection.Fil: Fermino, Marise L.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Dias, Fabrício C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Lopes, Carla D.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Souza, Maria A.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Cruz, Ângela K.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Liu, Fu Tong. University of California at Davis; Estados UnidosFil: Chammas, Roger. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Roque Barreira, Maria C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Bernardes, Emerson S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi

A Sino-German 6 cm polarization survey of the Galactic plane II. The region from 129 degree to 230 degree longitude

Linearly polarized Galactic synchrotron emission provides valuable information about the properties of the Galactic magnetic field and the interstellar magneto-ionic medium, when Faraday rotation along the line of sight is properly taken into account. We aim to survey the Galactic plane at 6 cm including linear polarization. At such a short wavelength Faraday rotation effects are in general small and the Galactic magnetic field properties can be probed to larger distances than at long wavelengths. The Urumqi 25-m telescope is used for a sensitive 6 cm survey in total and polarized intensities. WMAP K-band (22.8 GHz) polarization data are used to restore the absolute zero-level of the Urumqi U and Q maps by extrapolation. Total intensity and polarization maps are presented for a Galactic plane region of 129 degree < l < 230 degree and |b| < 5 degree in the anti-centre with an angular resolution of 9'5 and an average sensitivity of 0.6 mK and 0.4 mK Tb in total and polarized intensity, respectively. We briefly discuss the properties of some extended Faraday Screens detected in the 6 cm polarization maps. The Sino-German 6 cm polarization survey provides new information about the properties of the magnetic ISM. The survey also adds valuable information for discrete Galactic objects and is in particular suited to detect extended Faraday Screens with large rotation measures hosting strong regular magnetic fields.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figures, accepted by A&amp;A. Resolutions of the figures have been significantly reduced. For version with full resolution, see http://159.226.88.6/zmtt/6cm/papers/gao.paper2.pd

Comparative genomics of isolates of a pseudomonas aeruginosa epidemic strain associated with chronic lung infections of cystic fibrosis patients

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the main cause of fatal chronic lung infections among individuals suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF). During the past 15 years, particularly aggressive strains transmitted among CF patients have been identified, initially in Europe and more recently in Canada. The aim of this study was to generate high-quality genome sequences for 7 isolates of the Liverpool epidemic strain (LES) from the United Kingdom and Canada representing different virulence characteristics in order to: (1) associate comparative genomics results with virulence factor variability and (2) identify genomic and/or phenotypic divergence between the two geographical locations. We performed phenotypic characterization of pyoverdine, pyocyanin, motility, biofilm formation, and proteolytic activity. We also assessed the degree of virulence using the Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba model. Comparative genomics analysis revealed at least one large deletion (40-50 kb) in 6 out of the 7 isolates compared to the reference genome of LESB58. These deletions correspond to prophages, which are known to increase the competitiveness of LESB58 in chronic lung infection. We also identified 308 non-synonymous polymorphisms, of which 28 were associated with virulence determinants and 52 with regulatory proteins. At the phenotypic level, isolates showed extensive variability in production of pyocyanin, pyoverdine, proteases and biofilm as well as in swimming motility, while being predominantly avirulent in the amoeba model. Isolates from the two continents were phylogenetically and phenotypically undistinguishable. Most regulatory mutations were isolate-specific and 29% of them were predicted to have high functional impact. Therefore, polymorphism in regulatory genes is likely to be an important basis for phenotypic diversity among LES isolates, which in turn might contribute to this strain's adaptability to varying conditions in the CF lung

A model for uranium, rhenium, and molybdenum diagenesis in marine sediments based on results from coastal locations

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73 (2009): 2938-2960, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.02.029.The purpose of this research is to characterize the mobilization and immobilization processes that control the authigenic accumulation of uranium (U), rhenium (Re) and molybdenum (Mo) in marine sediments. We analyzed these redox– sensitive metals (RSM) in benthic chamber, pore water and solid phase samples at a site in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, U.S.A., which has high bottom water oxygen concentrations (230–300 mol/L) and high organic matter oxidation rates (390 mol C/cm2/y). The oxygen penetration depth varies from 2–9 mm below the sediment–water interface, but pore water sulfide is below detection (< 2M). The RSM pore water profiles are modeled with a steady–state diagenetic model that includes irrigation, which extends 10–20 cm below the sediment–water interface. To present a consistent description of trace metal diagenesis in marine sediments, RSM results from sediments in Buzzards Bay are compared with previous research from sulfidic sediments (Morford et al., GCA 71). Release of RSM to pore waters during the remineralization of solid phases occurs near the sediment–water interface at depths above the zone of authigenic RSM formation. This release occurs consistently for Mo at both sites, but only in the winter for Re in Buzzards Bay and intermittently for U. At the Buzzards Bay site, Re removal to the solid phase extends to the bottom of the profile, while the zone of removal is restricted to ~2–9 cm for U and Mo. Authigenic Re formation is independent of the anoxic remineralization rate, which is consistent with an abiotic removal mechanism. The rate of authigenic U formation and its modeled removal rate constant increase with increasing anoxic remineralization rates, and is consistent with U reduction being microbially mediated. Authigenic Mo formation is related to the formation of sulfidic microenvironments. The depth and extent of Mo removal from pore water is closely associated with the balance between iron and sulfate reduction and the consumption of pore water sulfide via iron sulfide formation. Pore water RSM reach constant asymptotic concentrations in sulfidic sediments, but only pore water Re is constant at depth in Buzzards Bay. The increases in pore water U at the Buzzards Bay site are consistent with addition via irrigation and subsequent upward diffusion to the removal zone. Deep pore water Mo concentrations exceed its bottom water concentration due to irrigation–induced oxidation and remobilization from the solid phase. In sulfidic sediments, there is no evidence for higher pore water U or Mo concentrations at depth due to the absence of irrigation and/or the presence of more stable authigenic RSM phases. There are good correlations between benthic fluxes and authigenic accumulation rates for U and Mo in sulfidic sediments. However, results from Buzzards Bay suggest irrigation ultimately results in the partial loss of U and Mo from the solid phase, with accumulation rates that are 20–30% of the modeled flux. Irrigation can augment (Re, possibly U) or compromise (U, Mo) authigenic accumulation in sediments, and is important when determining burial rates in continental margin sediments.The authors also acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation (JLM, WRM: OCE–0220892), Research Corporation (JLM, CMC), Franklin & Marshall College, and the Hackman Summer Research Program at F&M

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

Simple, policy friendly, ecological interaction models from uncertain data and expert opinion

In the marine environment, humans exploit natural ecosystems for food and economic benefit. Challenging policy goals have been set to protect resources, species, communities and habitats, yet ecologists often have sparse data on interactions occurring in the system to assess policy outcomes. This paper presents a technique, loosely based on Bayesian Belief Networks, to create simple models which 1) predict whether individual species within a community will decline or increase in population size, 2) encapsulate uncertainty in the predictions in an intuitive manner and 3) require limited knowledge of the ecosystem and functional parameters required to model it. We develop our model for a UK rocky shore community, to utilise existing knowledge of species interactions for model validation purposes. However, we also test the role of expert opinion, without full scientific knowledge of species interactions, by asking non-UK based marine scientists to derive parameters for the model (non-UK scientists are not familiar with the exact communities being described and will need to extrapolate from existing knowledge in a similar manner to model a poorly studied system). We find these differ little from the parameters derived by ourselves and make little difference to the final model predictions. We also test our model against simple experimental manipulations, and find that the most important changes in community structure as a result of manipulations correspond well to the model predictions with both our, and non-UK expert parameterisation. The simplicity of the model, nature of the outputs, and the user-friendly interface makes it potentially suitable for policy, conservation and management work on multispecies interactions in a wide range of marine ecosystems

Insights on geochemical cycling of U, Re and Mo from seasonal sampling in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, USA

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71 (2007): 895-917, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2006.10.016.This study examined the removal of U, Mo, and Re from seawater by sedimentary processes at a shallow-water site with near-saturation bottom water O2 levels (240-380 μmol O2/L), very high organic matter oxidation rates (annually averaged rate is 870 μmol C/cm2/y), and shallow oxygen penetration depths (4 mm or less throughout the year). Under these conditions, U, Mo, and Re were removed rapidly to asymptotic pore water concentrations of 2.2–3.3 nmol/kg (U), 7–13 nmol/kg (Mo), and 11–14 pmol/kg (Re). The order in which the three metals were removed, determined by fitting a diffusion-reaction model to measured profiles, was Re < U < Mo. Model fits also suggest that the Mo profiles clearly showed the presence of a near-interface layer in which Mo was added to pore waters by remineralization of a solid phase. The importance of this solid phase source of pore water Mo increased from January to October as the organic matter oxidation rate increased, bottom water O2 decreased, and the O2 penetration depth decreased. Experiments with in situ benthic flux chambers generally showed fluxes of U and Mo into the sediments. However, when the overlying water O2 concentration in the chambers was allowed to drop to very low levels, Mn and Fe were released to the overlying water along with the simultaneous release of Mo and U. These experiments suggest that remineralization of Mn and/or Fe oxides may be a source of Mo and perhaps U to pore waters, and may complicate the accumulation of U and Mo in bioturbated sediments with high organic matter oxidation rates and shallow O2 penetration depths. Benthic chamber experiments including the nonreactive solute tracer, Br-, indicated that sediment irrigation was very important to solute exchange at the study site. The enhancement of sediment-seawater exchange due to irrigation was determined for the nonreactive tracer (Br-), TCO2, NH4 +, U and Mo. The comparisons between these solutes showed that reactions within and around the burrows were very important for modulating the Mo flux, but less important for U. The effect of these reactions on Mo exchange was highly variable, enhancing Mo (and, to a lesser extent, U) uptake at times of relatively modest irrigation, but inhibiting exchange when irrigation rates were faster. These results reinforce the observation that Mo can be released to and removed from pore waters via sedimentary reactions. The removal rate of U and Mo from seawater by sedimentary reactions was found to agree with the rate of accumulation of authigenic U and Mo in the solid phase. The fluxes of U and Mo determined by in situ benthic flux chamber measurements were the largest that have been measured to date. These results confirm that removal of redoxsensitive metals from continental margin sediments underlying oxic bottom water is important, and suggest that continental margin sediments play a key role in the marine budgets of these metals.We appreciate the financial support from the National Science Foundation (OCE-0220892). Funding for this work was also provided to JLM by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at WHOI courtesy of the Cabot Marine Environmental Science Fund and the J. Seward Johnson Fund. Financial support to IMK was given by The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education

Lack of Galectin-3 Drives Response to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis toward a Th2-Biased Immunity

There is recent evidence that galectin-3 participates in immunity to infections, mostly by tuning cytokine production. We studied the balance of Th1/Th2 responses to P. brasiliensis experimental infection in the absence of galectin-3. The intermediate resistance to the fungal infection presented by C57BL/6 mice, associated with the development of a mixed type of immunity, was replaced with susceptibility to infection and a Th2-polarized immune response, in galectin-3-deficient (gal3−/−) mice. Such a response was associated with defective inflammatory and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions, high IL-4 and GATA-3 expression and low nitric oxide production in the organs of infected animals. Gal3−/− macrophages exhibited higher TLR2 transcript levels and IL-10 production compared to wild-type macrophages after stimulation with P. brasiliensis antigens. We hypothesize that, during an in vivo P. brasiliensis infection, galectin-3 exerts its tuning role on immunity by interfering with the generation of regulatory macrophages, thus hindering the consequent Th2-polarized type of response